diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 81e8318ec..40201f5e0 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -578,4 +578,13 @@ script:
     fi
 
 after_success:
+  # upload to dropbox
+  # need DROPBOX_OAUTH_BEARER environment variable
   - dropbox-deployment
+
+  # uploading to pypi using twine
+  # need TWINE_USERNAME, TWINE_PASSWORD and TWINE_REPOSITORY_URL env variable
+  - if [ "$PYTHON_BUILD" = true ] || [ "$DOCKER_BUILD" = true ]; then
+      pip install -U twine || sudo pip install -U twine;
+      twine upload --skip-existing deploy/dist-pymod/$klayout_version/*;
+    fi
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index 28804a941..e35efce39 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ jobs:
       artifactName: 'wheel-$(python.version).$(python.architecture)'
 
 - job: 'Deploy'
-  displayName: 'Combine Windows wheels'
+  displayName: 'Combine Windows wheels and deploy to PyPI'
   dependsOn: Build
   pool:
     vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016' # other options: 'macOS-10.13', 'ubuntu-16.04'
@@ -149,4 +149,12 @@ jobs:
       inputs:
         pathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
         artifactName: 'windows_wheels'
+    - bash: |
+        pip install -U twine
+        twine upload --skip-existing $BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY/*
+      env:
+        TWINE_USERNAME: $(TWINE_USERNAME)
+        TWINE_PASSWORD: $(TWINE_PASSWORD)
+        TWINE_REPOSITORY_URL: $(TWINE_REPOSITORY_URL)
+      displayName: 'Uploading to PyPI'
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index df4c6a573..9b13b54b9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -310,6 +310,10 @@ class Config(object):
             else:
                 loader_path = '$ORIGIN/..'
             args += ['-Wl,-rpath,' + loader_path]
+            # default linux shared object compilation uses the '-g' flag,
+            # which generates unnecessary debug information
+            # removing with strip-all during the linking stage
+            args += ['-Wl,--strip-all']
             return args
 
     def macros(self):
@@ -322,7 +326,7 @@ class Config(object):
         """
         Gets the version string
         """
-        return "0.26.0.dev13"
+        return "0.26.0.dev14"
 
 
 config = Config()